1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cash drawer controlling apparatus for controlling open of a plurality of cash drawers and a method of controlling open of a plurality of cash drawers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cash drawer controlling apparatuses for controlling drivers for opening a plurality of drawers in response to a plurality of open commands (requests), are known. The open commands are supplied from a personal computer for example, and application software in the personal computer may output a plurality of open commands at the same time. In this case, the prior art cash drawer controlling apparatus outputs more than one of open commands at the same time. Its driver circuits open a plurality of cash drawers at the same time, so that power consumption in the drivers increases.
The aim of the present invention is to provide a superior cash drawer controlling apparatus and a method of controlling cash drawers.
According to the present invention, a first aspect of the present invention provides a cash drawer controlling apparatus comprising: command receiving and outputting means having input terminals and output terminals for receiving a plurality of open commands and outputting said open commands; and simultaneous open inhibiting means for inhibiting said command receiving and outputting means from simultaneously outputting more than one of said open commands when more than one of said open commands are simultaneously received by said command receiving and outputting means.
According to the present invention, a second aspect of the present invention provides a cash drawer controlling apparatus based on the first aspect, wherein said simultaneous open inhibiting means comprises an exclusive OR gate.
According to the present invention, a third aspect of the present invention provides a cash drawer controlling apparatus based on the first aspect, wherein said simultaneous open inhibiting means comprises first and second D flip flops, an inverted Q output of said first D flip flop is supplied to a D input of said second D flip flop, and an inverted Q output of said second D flip flop is supplied to a D input of said first D flip flop.
According to the present invention, a fourth aspect of the present invention provides a cash drawer controlling apparatus based on the first aspect, further comprises concurrent open inhibiting means in response to one of said open commands for inhibiting said command receiving and outputting means from outputting another one of said open commands for a predetermined interval.
According to the present invention, a fifth aspect of the present invention provides a cash drawer controlling apparatus based on the fourth aspect, wherein said concurrent open inhibiting means comprises a timer for measuring said predetermined interval in response to said one of said open commands.
According to the present invention, a sixth aspect of the present invention provides a cash drawer controlling apparatus based on the fifth aspect, wherein said concurrent open inhibiting means comprises said first and second D flip flops, an OR gate of which inputs supplied with Q outputs of said first and second D flip flops, respectively, and a timer responsive to an output of said OR gate for measuring said predetermined interval, an inverted Q output of said first D flip flop is supplied to a D input of said second D flip flop, an inverted Q output of said second D flip flop is supplied to a D input of said first D flip flop, an output of said timer is supplied to clear inputs of said first and second D flip flops.
According to the present invention, a seventh aspect of the present invention provides a cash drawer controlling apparatus comprising: command receiving and outputting means having input terminals and output terminals for receiving a plurality of open commands and outputs said open commands; and concurrent open inhibiting means in response to one of said open commands for inhibiting said command receiving and outputting means from outputting another one of said open commands for a predetermined interval.
According to the present invention, an eighth aspect of the present invention provides a cash drawer controlling apparatus based on the seventh aspect, wherein said concurrent open inhibiting means comprises a timer for measuring said predetermined interval in response to said one of said open commands.
According to the present invention, a ninth aspect of the present invention provides a cash drawer controlling apparatus based on the seventh aspect, wherein said concurrent open inhibiting means comprises said first and second D flip flops, an OR gate of which inputs supplied with Q outputs of said first and second D flip flops, respectively, and a timer responsive to an output of said OR gate for measuring said predetermined interval, an inverted Q output of said first D flip flop is supplied to a D input of said second D flip flop, an inverted Q output of said second D flip flop is supplied to a D input of said first D flip flop, an output of said timer is supplied to clear inputs of said first and second D flip flops.
According to the present invention, a tenth aspect of the present invention provides a method of controlling cash drawers comprising the steps of: (a) receiving a plurality of open commands; (b) in response to one of said open commands, judging whether more than one of open commands are simultaneously received; (c) outputting said one of said open commands when more than one of open commands are not received simultaneously: and (d) neglecting said one of said open commands when more than one of open commands are simultaneously received.
According to the present invention, an eleventh aspect of the present invention provides a method based on the tenth aspect further comprises the steps of: measuring a predetermined interval in response to said step (b); and neglecting any of said open commands for said predetermined interval.
According to the present invention, a twelfth aspect of the present invention provides a cash drawer controlling apparatus comprising: command receiving and outputting means having input terminals and output terminals for receiving a plurality of open commands and outputting said open commands; and simultaneous open inhibiting means for inhibiting said command receiving and outputting means from simultaneously outputting said open commands for a predetermined interval in response to one of said open commands.
According to the present invention, a thirteenth aspect of the present invention provides a cash drawer controlling apparatus based on the eleventh aspect, wherein said simultaneous open inhibiting means comprises: first and second AND gates of which first inputs are supplied with said open commands, respectively; an OR gate of which inputs supplied with outputs of said first and second AND gates, respectively; and a timer responsive to an output of said OR gate for measuring said predetermined interval to supply a pulse having time duration of a predetermined interval to second inputs of said first and second AND gates, respectively.